Love Bites
by Saiyon
Summary: Bella is happy living in Phoenix with her girlfriend while spending summers in Forks with her friends, but everything changes when she's forced to live in Forks full time. On top of that, something strange is going on with the kids of La Push, Leah seems to hate her more than ever, and Bella seems to have acquired a few stalkers at Forks High. Just what is Bella supposed to do?


_Author's Note: Sorry for the new story, but I haven't had the time to write, so here comes another chapter I just had laying around. I always figure updating something instead of nothing was better, and on top of that, a lot of you have been wanting a Bella/Leah story for a while. I promise this won't fuck with any of my other updating rates, so are we cool? Hope so._

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Chapter 1

It was the summer before Bella's sophomore year, and Bella was having a love/hate relationship with it. Sure, the sun was out, which was rare enough in Forks, the weather good, and she was hanging out with some of her best friends at La Push, who she hadn't seen since last summer. So that was the good part of the break.

However, there was one downside to all of this, and it was a big one; Bella's girlfriend Luce. They had been dating for six months, and had become inseparable. That is, until Bella went to Forks, which she did every summer, while her girlfriend stayed in Phoenix. She wasn't about to impose on Charlie and beg him to let her girlfriend come with, after all. That would just make things even more awkward.

Bella and Luce called and texted each other daily, but it wasn't enough for either of them. While she loved her friends at La Push, she couldn't help but miss Luce, miss holding and kissing her girlfriend, and all that other cheesy romantic crap that Bella had once refused to ever have anything to do with.

So caught up in her thoughts, Bella didn't notice what was happening around her. She certainly didn't realize a ball was heading straight for her face, not even when Embry shouted, "Bella, watch out!"

Yet somehow, like she was in some sort of action movie, Bella bent backwards and twisted, dodging the ball in such a cool way that most people could dream of. It truly was an accomplished feat, one that had the boys gaping.

Straightening, Bella flipped her hair over her shoulder and smirked. "What? Still surprised at how awesome I am?" Bella asked, almost tauntingly. "But really, boys, you'd think you'd have better control by now. What happened to being the best at sports around here?" Bella turned, about to retrieve the ball.

Now, there was something that needed to be understood about Forks. Very rarely was the sun out, and it was pretty common to at least get some rain every few days. While it had rained yesterday, there hadn't been much. As the product of that rain, there were a few puddles about. Yet there were very few, and all of them were very small.

Despite all this, somehow, for some reason, Bella managed to step in a small mud puddle, one not even as big as her foot. She also managed to slip and, unable to regain her balance, fell backwards, arms pinwheeling, into an even bigger mud puddle she had been careful to avoid earlier.

Bella went down with a loud _splat!_ Mud went flying in every direction, and had mud had any cognitive thinking, Bella would have sworn that it took special care to cover Bella especially well. Mud not only got on her ass, hands, and legs, which had ended up in the mud puddle, but sprayed upwards onto her arms, stomach, and even her hair.

Jacob, Embry, Seth, and Quil all burst out laughing at Bella's expense, while Bella could only sit there and glare at them from beneath her now dirty hair.

"Yeah, yeah, yuck it up," Bella grumbled. She stood up, only to slip and fall again, this time face first.

There was a brief silence as the three boys contemplated how likely Bella was to kill them if they were to laugh, but then they couldn't hold back. Death would have been worth it if it meant getting to relish Bella's embarrassing experience.

So the boys started laughing even louder than before, but as Bella kept on slipping and sliding, trying to regain her dignity by getting up, Embry had the decency to calm himself enough to give Bella a hand out of the puddle. Then he had to steady Bella when she stepped on a rock and nearly fell over again.

Now, many might wonder, how could someone be graceful enough to dodge a ball like an action hero, yet trip over everything in sight? Well, while Bella was a prime example of this, she had no fucking clue. All she knew was that when she wasn't paying attention or had her mind on other things, she could be a prime example of grace and poise. Yet in her everyday life, she was lucky to walk ten feet without tripping or stubbing her toe. She had gotten so bad that Billy and Sue made sure to stock up on extra first aid kits and bandages when they knew Bella would be staying over.

For a moment, Bella looked back at her little ragtag group of friends. Sure, they were a little mismatched in a few ways; Bella was fifteen and soon to be sixteen in september, with Jacob, Embry, and Quil all thirteen, Seth eleven. Jacob and Quil were also jokesters, and Seth just a laid back kid, while Embry and Bella were a bit more serious. There was also the fact that Bella was just a pale white girl, who, if not for Charlie, wouldn't be hanging out in La Push in the first place. After all, even the kids in Forks saw La Push as a resort like area, only coming here for parties or to hang out at the beach. And had Rebecca and Rachel not grown out of the group, more focused on getting ready for college and the like, Bella wouldn't have been the only girl hanging with them. However, thanks to Charlie and Billy's close friendship, Bella basically grew up on the reservation-well, at least during the summers. And it was because of her time on the rez that she made the friends she did, and became used to not caring about what other people thought. These weren't just her friends, after all. They were practically brothers.

For some reason, a jolt of melancholy went through Bella as she gazed at the grinning faces of the four boys. She felt like she had to memorize this moment, because on some level, she knew it wouldn't last.

Which was ridiculous. Sure, each of them would obviously grow up, go to college, get jobs, and move on with their lives. However, it wasn't like they would just forget each other. They'd still hang out from time to time, and they would have more moments like these. It wasn't like Bella and her friends would just forget about each other. Besides, despite the twins leaving their little group, Bella still had three years until she had to go to college. They still had time to be kids.

Trying to shake off her strange feelings that had suddenly forced themselves on her, Bella swore to stop thinking so much about Luce and enjoy her time with her boys. With that in mind, she turned and started trudging towards Billy's house.

"Hey Bells, where are you going?" Jacob asked worriedly, afraid that they might have gone too far with their teasing.

"Isn't it obvious? I need to wash this off," Bella called back over her shoulder. Her steps didn't falter as she gestured to her mud clad form.

Seth was quick to run after her. "You can go to my house instead. It's a lot closer," he was quick to say, jogging lightly to keep up with Bella's longer legs.

"Thanks, Seth," Bella said, giving the young boy a grateful smile as they changed direction. It was only seconds after Bella spoke that the other three boys caught up, and they fell into conversation, joking and horsing around. And still, while Bella had done her best to shake off her feelings earlier, they were still there, lingering in the back of her mind. It made Bella almost obsess over having as much fun as she could with the boys, letting them poke fun at her each time she tripped and had to be caught, but also giving some of that teasing back in any way that she could. That may or may not have included getting them muddy as well.

They made it to Seth's house quickly enough, and Bella paused before she could start climbing up the stairs to reach the porch. She took off her shoes and socks, knowing how disgustingly muddy she was, despite the fact that the mud had already hardened under the hot sun. Bella didn't want to make Sue's house messy, after all. Not to mention that Sue would probably make her clean it.

"After you, milady," Seth said with a bow and a grin, sweeping his hands towards the house.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Always the gentleman, aren't you?" Bella asked, making sure to stroke Seth's cheek as she passed, smearing the mud on his golden skin.

Seth just kept grinning, despite knowing what Bella had done as Bella started climbing up the steps towards the front door.

Just as she was reaching for the doorknob, the door flew open. Bella stumbled back just in time to avoid getting hit in the face, but that resulted in nearly falling down the stairs. Good thing there were four boys there to catch her, or Bella would have really been in for some pain for the next few days.

Once she realized she was no longer about to fall down the stairs, Bella looked up to see who had nearly hit her. And there, in the doorway, stood one of Bella's least favorite people; Leah Clearwater. Damn it, wasn't Leah supposed to be with Sam all day today?

Leah took in the scene, noting how the four boys were still holding an incredibly muddy Bella up, the boys now much dirtier thanks to their effort. She had to have known what she had done, but all she did was scowl and cross her arms over her chest, cocking her hip. "What is _she_ doing here?" Leah demanded scathingly. And even had their been a thousand girls standing in front of the door instead of just Bella, not a single person would have questioned who Leah was talking about.

Yes, it was true; Leah hated Bella too. But they hated each other for different reasons; well, at least as far as Bella could tell. Actually, as far as Bella knew, she had no idea why Leah hated her. It had simply always been this way, for as far back as Bella could remember.

It was Leah's hatred that caused Bella's hatred. After all, there was only so much berating, subtle shoving, tormenting, and general insulting that one person could take before that person started to feel a certain way.

"What the hell, Leah?" Seth shouted-yes, despite being eleven, he knew how to curse-as he stepped in front of Bella, leaving it to the other three boys to make sure Bella stayed on her feet. "You could have seriously hurt her, and that's all you have to say?"

Bella couldn't help but stare at Seth with a little bit of awe. After all, the kid really loved his sister, so it was always something to watch him go against her.

Hmm….could that be the reason Leah hated Bella so much? Because Bella sometimes turned Seth against her? No, that couldn't be it. The older girl had hated Bella long before Seth had joined their little group.

"She seems fine to me," Leah quipped, but her eyes got darker as she glowered at Bella. "Now, I'll ask again; what is she doing here?"

"We needed to get cleaned up," Jacob said as glared back at Leah. He had made sure not to single Bella out despite Bella being the one who had been the reason for them to drop by in the first place, for which Bella was grateful. Just because she hated Leah didn't mean Bella was up to fighting or even arguing with her. And not just because Leah had that tough girl vibe to her and could knock Bella flat on her ass with a single punch. "Your house was closest, and we thought you were gone. What happened to your plans with Sam?"

"I was just leaving to see him," Leah stated flatly. Apparently she wasn't in the mood for an argument or fight either, because she stormed down the stairs past Bella and the boys. Bella was sure the only reason Leah made sure to give Bella a wide berth instead of tossing her over the railing was because of how muddy Bella was. Who would have guessed Bella's clumsiness could come in handy, let alone save her life?

Once Leah was in her car-what should have been a dead giveaway that she was still hanging around, Bella realized, cursing herself for her own obliviousness-and driving away, the five kids turned back towards the house and trudged inside.

"Whoa! What happened to you all?" Harry exclaimed the second he saw the five's muddy states.

Immediately, the mood lightened, and the boys took great fun in telling the brief story. They made sure to include every detail, saying how hilarious it was to see her slipping and sliding, even exaggerating to make it funnier. Soon Harry was laughing too, but then he pointed out that, judging by the boys' muddy appearances, Bella had gotten her revenge. This made the girl in question forget her embarrassment, relishing in her brief revenge, which she stated smugly. Some of the boys hadn't even seen the mud coming until it was too late.

The little party was quickly broken up when Sue came in to see what the commotion was about, only to gasp at the kids' muddy states. She immediately started ushering Bella into one bathroom and Quil-who had taken the most mud since he couldn't keep his mouth shut-into the other to get washed up. One shower later, Bella then stepped out to realize that Sue had taken her dirty clothes to be washed, replacing them with some of Leah's, who was nearly the same size. Although Leah was taller and bustier, which wasn't exactly good for Bella's self confidence as she realized she had no choice but to put the clothes on.

 _Great. Just another reason for Leah to hate me,_ Bella couldn't help but think bitterly. She was definitely going to change into her own clothes and wash Leah's as soon as she could, but wondered how she would give them back. Probably through Seth. But should Bella even go through all of that effort in the first place, when Leah was just likely to burn them the second she realized why they had gone missing in the first place? Yes, she had to. Otherwise Leah would probably just use Bella not washing or returning the clothes as an excuse to punch Bella in the face.

No, Leah hadn't punched Bella in the face yet, but Bella was sure Leah was just waiting for the perfect chance. And Bella wasn't going to go out of her way to give it to her.

Once Bella was dressed, she returned to the living room, where all of the boys had gotten cleaned up save for Seth, who was still in the shower. The boys were repeating what had happened to get into their muddy state in the first place, this time for Sue's benefit, which made Bella groan as she sat down on the couch, forcing Jake and Embry to scoot over. Couldn't the boys just let it go already? Really, it was like once something even a little interesting happened, they couldn't think of or talk about anything else.

Soon Seth was out, and Sue immediately put the kids to work cleaning up their mess. Despite how careful Bella had been in coming into the home, the boys hadn't taken the same care, and there was mud, both dry and not, everywhere. They cleaned up with minimal complaint to Sue, although Bella made sure to point out that it was mostly the boys' fault that she was cleaning right now, and then it was getting late. Charlie had to pick Bella up, declining an offer for dinner at Sue and Harry's house-mostly for Bella's benefit, as Leah was due back for dinner as well and Charlie knew of the trouble and feelings between the two-and then they drove home to have a nice family meal with just the two of them. And what that meant was pizza delivered to their house, as Bella was too tired to cook.

Knowing how exhausted she was, and that she was expected back at the rez tomorrow, Bella dragged herself up the stairs, changed, and flopped onto her bed, ready to go to sleep. But it was only seconds after she had ended up in her bed that her phone rang, waking her from her sleepy daze.

Reaching out blindly, Bella grabbed her phone and checked the caller ID. A smile curved Bella's lips, a flood of energy zipping through her veins, her stomach twisting in the same nervous excitement Bella had felt every time she talked to the girl for the last six months, and some time even before that.

Answering the call with a huge goofy grin still on her face, Bella said, "Hello, this is Filthy Freddy, where we're always ready, to deal with all that nasty old bedding. Because that's the only thing I can think of that rhymes with Freddy and ready on such short notice."

Laughter filtered from across the line. "Hello to you too, Bells," Luce replied, amusement still clear in her voice. It was always great to know that she didn't care about Bella's nerdy or awkward moments. If anything, according to the girl herself, Luce found them adorable. "I miss you."

"Just two more weeks," Bella said, the smile slipping from her face. Now she was getting annoyed at the repetitiveness of her own emotions for that day. The elation at the thought of seeing her girlfriend and the unexplainable fear of change was almost starting to make her nauseous.

"Right, I can't wait. So how are you?"

Bella couldn't help it. Despite knowing that the boys would be banging on her door by nine if she didn't get to the rez by then, Bella and Luce chatted well into the night, and even into the early hours of the morning.

What could Bella say? She was in love.


End file.
